Sunday, April 29, 2012

Five years ago today, Jonas Joseph Burgos was abducted by suspected
state security agents at a busy mall in Quezon City. From that day until
this very moment, his family and friends continue searching for him
despite all the difficulties.

MANILA – In hopes of finding Jonas Burgos, Mrs. Edita Burgos and her family have turned to the judicial system but found it wanting.

“We went through the legal process and here we are now,” Mrs. Burgos
said in an interview a few days before the fifth year of the
disappearance of her son. She encountered a labyrinth and she is still
nowhere near finding even a trace of her missing son.
Just last week, the Court of Appeals ruled that the military
documents related to the case are secret. In a five-page decision by
Associate Justice Rosalinda Asuncion-Vicente, the CA’s special former
seventh division said the documents, including the summary of
information about the two suspects, are considered as confidential. In
effect, the court has ruled that the military part of Mrs Burgos’
labyrinthine search for Jonas is untouchable. (Click here to read the whole article)

Jonas Burgos, gentle and brave

The three boys in the family share a light moment. On the right is Jonas. JL stands beside him and Sonny below.(Photo courtesy of the Burgos family / bulatlat.com)

MANILA – Jonas or Jay to his family was born on an Easter Sunday, on
March 29, 1970. “I was attending Mass when my labor began. In less than
an hour, before the Mass ended, I gave birth to him,” Mrs. Edita Burgos
recalled. Jonas is the middle child of the five children of Mrs. Burgos
and press freedom icon, Jose Burgos Jr.

As a child, Jay was full of energy. “I would tell his teachers to
keep him busy or else they’d get into trouble,” Mrs. Burgos said. Jay
went to Victoria School Foundation during his grade school.

Jay was called “supervisor” for his habit of roaming around the
school. On the first day of classes, he already knew the names of all
the teachers. Sometimes, he would tickle the knees of his classmates,
moving from one desk to another.
Asked why he was doing those things, Jay would tell his mother: “Our
teacher was saying the same things over and over again.” Smiling, Mrs.
Burgos said: “And so, by next school year, he was given the task of
erasing what was written on the blackboard. Sometimes, he would erase
the text even before his classmates were done copying.” (Click here to read the whole article)5 years of search, 5 years of hope.... MORESource: Bulatlat.com

04/29/2012
At the conclusion of the 33rd National Conference of Employers last
Wednesday, Noynoy was anticipated to make policy pronouncements in his
remarks that will close the annual assembly of the country’s business
executives.

The finale of the event was set at 11 a.m. on the 25th
and the big shots in business were all at the edge of their seats
waiting for what pronouncements Noynoy may have to rev up the local
economy which seems to have hit a lamp post in managing only a 3.7
percent growth last year against the 7.9 percent growth in 2010.

The
result was almost predictable, no Noynoy, no policy speech and everyone
who participated in the conference going home in disgust and
disappointment over the Aquino no-show.

In Noynoy’s place was
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz who failed to give comfort to the
disenchanted business people since they had been talking with the ever
present official during the entire length of the event that ran for four
days since April 22..... MORE

04/29/2012
SINGAPORE — An unfolding scandal over an under-age call girl has
shaken Singapore’s political and economic elite after businessmen, civil
servants and uniformed officers were charged in the case.

Prostitution
is legal in Singapore, but 48 men ranging in age from their early 20s
to late 40s have so far been charged under a 2008 law making it a crime
to pay for sex with a girl under 18.

Singapore has long been
perceived as a conservative, even prudish, city-state but it has a
thriving sex industry dating back to its beginnings as a key trading
port of the then British empire..... MORE

The US says it has deployed a number of its most modern jet fighters
to an air base in Southwest Asia. The announcement alarmed many, who
suspect the base is actually in the United Arab Emirates just 200
hundred miles from Iran.

­The Air Force did not specify the exact number or location of the
recently-deployed F-22 Raptors, but confirmed that they had been sent to
a base in Southwest Asia, a region that includes the UAE.

Ever travelled to a nearby city on your own? In Saudi Arabia, this
could be grounds for divorce. A Saudi man broke up with his wife because
she “disobeyed” him by going on a business trip without his consent.

­The man phoned a radio program dealing with marital problems to
complain about his wife to host Sheikh Ghazi al-Shammari, a prominent
Islamic scholar. The unnamed man said his wife “offended his manhood”
by traveling from the Saudi port city of Jeddah to the capital Riyadh
for a business conference, alone and without his approval.

04/29/2012
Authority is supposed to create fear, or in Christian ethical
parlance, “reverential fear.” It is a kind of fear that would make us
tremble at the sight of the authority’s iron hand and heart of steel,
but would bow our heads in due respect and obedience.

But of
course, indeed, there is already an atmosphere of fear in the form of
doubt and insecurity creeping into the sensibilities and perceptions of
our people. This worrisome insecurity is even leading to doubts as to
the present administration’s capability to put this country under its
nose and grip.

Nobody can’t help chill in the fact that “even when the cat is around, the mouse will play.”
Primetime
news and broadsheets are now competing with tabloids in reporting of
all sorts of heinous crimes viewable from CCTVs mostly daring heists and
senseless murders in malls, homes and the streets, just like in the
movies. And the perpetrators are getting younger by the day! We are
still top in the list of countries unfriendly and hazardous to the
journalistic profession, the latest of which was an attempt to strafe
the house of columnist Professor Randy David. Despite the automatic
denials of the police authorities as they lace their reports with facts
of dwindling crime rates in select areas, the public perception says the
contrary. President Joseph Estrada was head of the Presidential
Anti-Crime Commission (PACC) when he was vice president to Fidel Ramos
and continued to fight off criminality when it was his turn at the helm..... MORESource: RT.com

By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO Bulatlat.com
MANILA — Topping this list is not an achievement for any country.

The Citizens’ Disaster Response Center (CDRC) has recently released
its 2011 Disaster Report saying that the Philippines topped the list of
countries most frequently hit by natural disasters last year. Citing the
records of the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters
(CRED), Carlos Padolina, CDRC deputy executive director, said that of
the 302 natural disasters that happened worldwide, 33 occurred in the
Philippines.

CDRC is a non-government organization that pioneered and continues to
promote community-based disaster management in the Philippines. It
operates nationwide through a network of regional centers and people’s
organizations. It maintains its own disasters database, monitoring both
natural and human-induced disasters.

Based on the report, a total of 431 natural and human-induced
disasters were reported in the Philippines in the past year. These
killed 1,774 people, and affected more than three million families or
15.3 million people, and caused over P26 billion in economic damages.

“This is a more than 50 percent increase from the 2010 figure of 202 disaster events recorded,” said Padolina.

Increasing number of people affected by disasters
The CDRC’s 2011 Philippine Disaster Report presents information on
disasters that occurred in the Philippines in the past year, providing
an overview of the type of disasters that occurred, the frequency of
occurrence, as well as the effects of these disasters on communities.
Where available, direct economic costs to agriculture and infrastructure
were also included. A substantial portion of the data.... MORE

04/29/2012
A major general in the China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has
called for “decisive action” from the Chinese government to assert its
territorial claim against the Philippines over the Scarborough Shoal
dispute.

Prominent Chinese military commentator Major Gen. Luo
Yuan accused the Philippines of initiating the current standoff in the
South China Sea.

“Therefore it is important that China
demonstrates its determination to safeguard its national sovereignty and
security,” Luo said..... MORE

04/29/2012
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-National
Secretariat for Social Action, Justice, and Peace (CBCP-Nassa) called
on President Aquino and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to
swiftly facilitate the implementation of the SC ruling upholding the
distribution of the vast Hacienda Luisita estate of the Aquino-Cojuangco
clan to farm workers.

CBCP-Nassa lauded the Supreme Court (SC) for the favorable ruling on the Hacienda Luisita land dispute.

“The
long wait is over. The decision for land distribution of Hacienda
Luisita has finally been rendered. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of
the Philippines-National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and
Peace thanks the Supreme Court for its resolution to distribute the
lands to the farmers of Hacienda Luisita following the land valuation of
1989,” said CBCP-Nassa chief and Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick
Pabillo in a statement..... MORE

By Gina Peralta-Elorde 04/29/2012
The Philippine Army (PA) yesterday confirmed that the five civilians,
including a barangay kagawad who were held hostage by the New People’s
Army (NPA) guerillas in Davao del Sur have been released on Friday.

This was disclosed by the PA’s 10th Infantry Division spokesman, Major Jacob Obligado.

Obligado
said the five civilians, Barangay San Miguel Councilor Enteng Bunal,
Jolly Paimalan, Elmer Pentes, Rhyan Banua and Pablo Butaya have been
released by their captors..... MORE

04/29/2012
A lawmaker has moved to criminalize the hiring of public school teachers through service contracts or job orders.

ACT
Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio filed House Bill 6006, which seeks to
dismiss from service with cancellation of eligibility and perpetual
disqualification from government service any government official found
guilty of the offense. His or her retirement benefits shall also be
forfeited.

Tinio said the measure covers teachers employed in
public schools in the kindergarten, elementary and secondary levels, as
well as in public post-secondary education institutions, including state
universities and colleges (SUCs), local universities and colleges
(LUCs), and technical-vocational schools..... MORE

04/29/2012
Five persons, one of them a policeman, were killed while two others
were wounded when armed men held up passengers of a jeepney that led to
a brief encounter between responding policemen and the suspects in
Quezon City last Friday night.

Killed were PO3 Erwin Hipolito, Rommel Tinio, the jeepney driver, and three of the suspects who were gunned down by policemen.

The wounded were identified as POI Cyril Agitong and another driver identified as Ignacio Rigor..... MORE

04/29/2012
Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara has filed a Magna Carta for
Filipino Seafarers that includes, among other lofty provisions, a
comprehensive definition of their employment and economic rights and
mandates 15 government agencies to actively promote, professionalize and
prepare the seafarers for the 21st century maritime industry.

The
Angara bill lists 17 items on the rights of seafarers alone, seeks best
business practices acts from foreign ship owners recruiting Filipino
merchant marine officers and urges all stakeholders to adopt all the
international conventions and standards on seafarers’ welfare,
especially those on compensation and wages.

The bill also seeks
to rein in the fees and the cumbersome procedures that merchant marine
officers face when seeking employment or re-deployment, mostly from
government agencies and local placement companies..... MORE